They were quiet on the drive to Ron’s place and Bobbi tried to settle the butterflies in her stomach by reminding herself she was a grown woman who was free to do what she liked. And she liked Ron. All her teenage fantasies were about to become reality and she almost didn’t care if he never spoke to her again; she deserved an evening like this, with a man who made her feel…everything. She’d felt one night of excitement with Wade but he hadn’t called after unceremoniously taking her virginity and she’d only found him again after discovering she was pregnant.

After that, sex had been underwhelming, routine, and then non-existent in the year before his death. She’d been without for a very long time and instinct told her Ron would be a very different lover than Wade.

Her blue eyes took in the front room of his townhouse when they entered, and a faint smile played on her lips.

“What do you think?” Ron asked lightly, tossing his keys on the counter. “I haven’t done much with the place but it’s not too bad.”

“Actually, it’s great. You’ve obviously worked hard to find a balance between bachelor pad and nice place to raise a little girl.”

“Thanks.” He leaned against the wall. “You want a drink or anything?”

“Nope.” She leaned against his chest. “I want you.”

“You were all shy and cautious a week ago,” he chuckled, pulling her into his arms. “Now you’re ready to jump my bones—I like it, but what’s up with this change?”

“Two years without sex,” she whispered. “Fifteen years of thinking about you. No idea how much time we have before you’re called away or I have to leave California or something else keeps me from tasting you. I so want to taste you, Ronnie.” Her breath hitched on his name.

“No one but my friend Erin calls me Ronnie,” he said softly, finding her lips with his. “But I like when you do it…”

He kissed her lazily, as if he was savoring the moment as much as she was. Because she was. She’d fantasized about hot, sweaty, naked Ron, but sweet, sensual Ronnie was sexy too. She wanted all of it, all of him, and intended to have him, but he was taking his time. His tongue stroked against hers with a slow, exploratory rhythm. He discovered every millimeter of her mouth, until she didn’t know where he stopped and she began. The gentle passion of his kiss was new to her, and she shivered against his body.

“Are you cold?” he whispered.

“No. I just love the way you feel.”

“Come on.” He took her hand and guided her into his bedroom. It was much more basic than the living room. The bed had no headboard and was covered with a plain navy comforter and three pillows. There was a piece of furniture she assumed was a dresser but he was already kissing her again and she forgot all about the décor. He sank onto the bed, dragging her with him, their mouths fused together, limbs tangled.

It took a minute for Ron to realize the buzzing against his groin was his pager, not his rock-hard erection. He fumbled to pull it out of his pocket, knowing this would most likely mean there was an op and he had to go.

“Babe…” He pulled away slightly, holding up the beeper and looking at the screen; a sigh of frustration escaped him.

“Is it the kids?” Her eyes snapped back to reality when she saw the look on his face.

“No.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

“You have to—oh.” She seemed frozen in place and he took a moment to cup the side of her face with his hand.

“I’m sorry. Once I get the call, I don’t have a long time until wheels up.”

“You mean…you’re getting on a plane?”

He nodded.

“To go where?”

“Honestly? I have no idea until I get to the briefing, but even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you.”

“Oh.” She looked stricken, fumbling to straighten her clothes as she slid off the bed.

“Bobbi. Stop.” He spoke softly but the command in his voice did the trick. She stopped moving, even though she didn’t turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry. I really am. But I’ll be back and we’ll pick up where we left off, okay? This isn’t personal, it’s work.”

“I know. I’m just…a little unprepared. I don’t know why.”

“It’s my fault. We should’ve talked about this a little more before we progressed to the sex portion of our relationship.”

“It’s fine.” She nodded absently.

“No, it’s not, but when I come back I’ll explain everything and give you a better idea of what to expect in the future. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone—anywhere from a day to a few weeks—but I’ll text you as soon as I’m back.”

“Okay.”

“I need to pack a bag for Sam and drop it off at Sandy’s. I’ll also have to drop you off at your house to get your car so I can go straight from Sandy’s to the briefing, okay?”

“Got it.”

“You’ll be okay getting back there on your own to get Julian?”

“Of course.”

He watched with regret as she walked down the hall. She wasn’t happy with this turn of events and he wished he had time to fix things, but he had to go. This was why he didn’t date, and even though Bobbi was different, it felt like he’d blundered this badly. He’d touched upon his job and what a turn-off it could be to women, but he should’ve made sure she understood before getting intimate with her. It annoyed him he’d gotten a call right in the middle of their first time together, but it would’ve been a lot worse if they’d been naked and he’d been buried between those gorgeous legs of hers. Shit. He had a lot of explaining to do when he got back.

Bobbi moped all weekend, waffling between embarrassment that she’d been so willing to sleep with him on their first official date, annoyance that he’d been called away, and sadness that he probably wouldn’t want to see her again after the way she’d behaved when he’d said he had to leave. She hadn’t known what to do, what was expected of her, or how she was supposed to act. Did the wives of these kinds of military men just smile and say goodbye? She’d been a military wife, of course, but Wade had worked the military variation of nine-to-five when he wasn’t deployed, and they’d had lots of time to get ready for deployments; the Force Recon element was completely foreign to her.

She was still in a bad mood on Monday when she got to work, and was lost in thought when Sara’s mom, Jessyka, came in to drop Sara off.

“Hey, Bobbi!”

Bobbi turned and smiled at the pretty brunette. “Hey, Jessyka.”

“Listen, Sara’s a little off this morning so if you see any signs of a fever or cough, will you shoot me a quick text? So far I don’t see any symptoms, but I thought I’d give you a heads-up.”

“Of course.”

“So, are you coming to the cookout?”

“The what?” Bobbi frowned.

“Benny said you and Ron are dating so I thought…” Her voice trailed off.

“One date and it didn’t end well, so he probably won’t be calling when he gets back.”

“What happened?” Jessyka leaned against the desk, as if ready to chat.

Bobbi shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll head out, but Benny ran into him last week and he thinks Ron really likes you.”

“Maybe he did, but after the way I acted when he said he had to go…” She sighed. “Anyway, it was super awkward.”

“He got the call in the middle of the date?”

Bobbi flushed. “He got the call in the middle of…something else.”

“Oh.” Jessyka winced sympathetically. “And he just…stopped?”

Bobbi’s face was burning. “Well, we weren’t, you know, there yet, but we’d just started making out on the bed.” She didn’t know why she was telling the parent of one of her students this, but Benny was a SEAL, so Jessyka would understand if anyone would.

“And you were upset.”

Bobbi nodded miserably.

“I know it’s not the same when they tell you it can happen and when it actually happens, but—”

“He talked about going off on missions, but I thought like a day or two, not right that second.”

“He never explained about that?” Jessyka cocked her head. “Well, that’s on him.”

“We just, I mean…” Bobbi hung her head. “It was our first official date. So he probably thinks I’m some sort of bimbo anyway.”

“Why? Because you wanted a handsome man you went out with to make you feel good? Honey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re not 15. You’re a grown woman who’s had a rough year after the death of your husband. You’re allowed to want sex.”

“Ron and I have known each other since high school,” Bobbi said. “I had a crush on him then and now…” She sighed.

Jessyka snickered. “Now he’s all grown up and you want to lick him… So what’s the problem?”

“I’m a single mom and his daughter goes to school here. It’s probably best if we don’t start something.”

“You’re overthinking this. He should’ve given you a heads-up about the way it works with his job, but you’re super new together, and he probably wasn’t thinking. You know how guys are.”

“Yeah.”

“At least wait until he gets back and you have a chance to talk before you write him off. He seems like a good guy.”

“I’ve had a crush on him since high school…”

“If you’ve waited this long, no reason to give up now.”

Bobbi chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right.”